feet – Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

Pain in the Bottom of My Foot

You have a band of fascia that might be causing pain in the bottom of your foot. It’s known as your plantar fascia (usually it is the only type of fascia that anyone has heard about). When it is inflamed and you experience pain that is known as plantar fasciitis (PLANTAR FASCIITIS ). The good news is, at least in my experience, this is not a permanent state of pain.

Though you might have to do some maintenance to keep the pain away, most people with PLANTAR FASCIITIS are able to return to a normal life without pain at every step.

So What Can You Do?

The key to relieving plantar fascia pain is to stretch all the related muscles. This includes both calf muscles and the hamstrings. That’s right, tight hamstrings are strongly linked to plantar fasciitis.
Also, you can do self message on the foot or roll the foot on a soft ball. You don’t have to combat pain with agony, so if a tennis ball hurts, there is no need to use an object that firm.

Stretch What?

There are three muscles to focus on stretching when you have PLANTAR FASCIITIS .

Stretch the Calf

When […]

Pain in the Bottom of My FootMaggie Downie2019-03-15T13:25:03-04:00

What is fascia?

Drink fluids for healthy fascia!

This month we are highlighting fascia. Fascia is the connective tissue that runs along every surface of the body, encasing the organs, muscles, and other soft tissue like a sausage casing or the sections of an orange—where each large and tiny segment of juice is held together by a sleek, thin film. So the muscles themselves are encased, but so is each muscle fiber. Fascia is everywhere in our body. There are different types of fascia in your body that serve different purposes.

Fascia helps us move. It helps make us glide so that when we move our skin, tendons, and muscles don’t stick to all our other parts. Each part can slither smoothly alongside each other. Fascia can help the muscles do their job. When healthy fascia remains springy (for lack of a better word) in movement, the muscles can use less energy and won’t fatigue as quickly because the fascia takes some of the burden of force and helps the body return to its “normal” shape. Fascia is your friend for all kinds of movement.

Recently it was “discovered” that a particular type of […]

What is fascia?Maggie Downie2018-05-04T11:38:40-04:00

Foot Pain Probably Plantar Fasciitis

Love Your Feet!

If you have foot pain in the sole of your foot it’s a likely culprit is plantar fasciitis. Most people have never heard of fascia, but most have heard of plantar fasciitis—a painful inflammation of the fascia in your foot. Fascia is connective tissue that runs through your whole body. At the sole of your foot it is a fibrous material that connects to your Achilles’ tendon. And when it hurts it hurts. Most people find it especially hurts first thing in the morning. And that is because fascia responds to movement and hydration. After sleeping, we haven’t drinking in eight hours and we’ve barely moved. The fascia stiffens.

Here are some tips to help your fascia feel better. Some of these are beneficial for the fascia throughout your body. All are specific to the fascia in your foot causing pain:

Drink Water
Ice—you can toss and ice pack under your foot whenever you are sitting down or freeze a water bottle and roll it back and forth under your foot.
At night use this time as a little R&R and rub some lotion […]

Foot Pain Probably Plantar FasciitisMaggie Downie2017-12-29T20:18:08-05:00

Client Corner: Katy Hall on Feet & Firewalking

Meet Katy

“My cousin and I were always rubbing each other’s feet when we were younger,” Katy Hall reminisces.

Many years later, Katy found herself treating her clients to a foot rub after their facials and she soon realized what a great addition it was to the services she offered. Katy was officially bit by the reflexology bug.

Reflexology uses therapeutic essential oils while applying pressure to the feet through a variety of techniques. These techniques claim to dissipate energy blocks within organs and systems and breakdown crystalline structures within the body. Stimulating the circulatory lymphatic systems, electro chemical energy, and the body’s natural immune system helps encourage the release of toxins and enables the body to heal itself.

While there are mixed reviews as to whether or not the claims reflexology makes are true, and some studies may be flawed, the University of Minnesota, compiled a list of studies that do seem to show there may be benefits to organs and the rest of the body. Studies have shown an impact on organs, a decrease in pain, blood pressure and other symptoms, and an increase in relaxation. Ultimately, no matter what […]

Client Corner: Katy Hall on Feet & FirewalkingMaggie Downie2017-12-29T21:04:59-05:00

Walking on Fire

The fire ablaze.

Why did I want to do a firewalk? That was the question everyone asked me when I mentioned I was doing one. I still don’t know the answer. Curiosity. An interesting experience. To know what it feels like. Conquer fear. Know that I can do it. To see how my nervous system responds. Those were all a piece of what intrigued me, but when I tested those answers on different people none seemed to satisfy anyone.

I don’t have an answer. What makes anyone want to do anything? I don’t want to bungee jump or cliff jump even though that might help me get over my fear of heights and would be an adventure. I’m not a thrill seeker. Firewalking isn’t like a rollercoaster ride. I don’t want to do an ultra-run, but I can understand why someone would feel compelled to run in an extreme environment for days. I hadn’t thought about the why at first because I naively assumed everyone wanted to firewalk. As it turns out most people don’t. I told

Walking on FireMaggie Downie2018-05-09T18:07:11-04:00